Under The Skin
by velociraptor-luna
Summary: Dermatologist Lu Delano arrives at Resurgam First Care. It's hard to believe it's just...coincidence that several explosions popped up in Portland at about the same time. Could this newbie be...a murderer? Yeah, I can't think of a good summary. Ever.
1. Stress

**A/N:** Oh, with my silly self-inserts I'm such a hopeless person. Uh...this takes place post-game. Which means the Rosalia virus has calmed down, CR-S01 comes to operate on patients every once in a while, Naomi isn't gonna die, etcetera, etcetera. Oops! Did I just start with spoilers before the actual fanfic even started? *shrug*

I know my last story was a first-person point of view, so I'm gonna give a shot at a third-person this time around. Also, I'm not gonna try to apply to the mannerisms of speech that I have this time around. Oh yeah, and I'll bother to describe how I look. The last one I know I goofed and said I was blond, but let's say I had a temp dye going on the whole fic, yeah.

Okay, let's start exploiting how much of a hopeless fangirl I am! :D

* * *

"Uh...h-hi... I'm a new dermatologist."

The short, curvy lady shyly said at the reception desk.

"Oh, so you're Lu. You're late."

Chief Esha hastily replied.

"My bad..."

Her name is Lu Delano. She used to be a diagnostician... Then quit when the diseases started to become too severe and contagious for her to handle. So she went back to school to study dermatology. Lu...or should I say, Dr. Delano, likes to be shy and patient with others when she first meets them. If you're interested in those kinds of people, I absolutely don't reccomend you trying to befriend her. She's very eccentric...well at least she can be. Other times she can be calm and lazy. But you just really never know.

Dr. Delano is very short for her age. She's a little over...or...under...five feet tall. The glasses she wears nicely fit her face with a black half-rim on the top. Her skin is a little bit of a pasty tan with remains of scars on her arms and legs. The hair on her head was such a dark brown it was almost black. It looks like she considered brushing it, then the thought died of loneliness after two brushes. Her clothes? Ehh...a little dark. Most people stare and find her fashion sense a tad scary. Lu mostly prefers to wear anything that covers her knees. More specifically: Tripp pants covered in chains and zippers. Along with that she likes to wear corsets and leather tops...sometimes logo tees. Today just happened to be a logo tee day. Oh, and of course the traditional white lab coat of a doctor.

Anyways, back to the story that never really started until just now because I said so.

"Maria, can you show Lu around?" Esha hollered.

"'Kay, Chief." Maria replied.

"If there's anything you need, just yell, okay? It's not everyday we even have a dermatologist. Most skin operations are done by the surgeons." Esha quickly noted, before she left to check on staff.

"So, you wanna be introduced to the other doctors? Or do ya wanna know where everything is?" Maria asked.

"...The second one." Lu answered.

Maria grumbled a little bit, to show her moderate frustration. It was annoying how much Lu wandered off in her own world and failed to pay attention to much anything else sometimes. But Maria loyally showed Lu everything as she was told. The emergency room, where the patients' rooms are, the old ward, you get the point. Lu met a few doctors and nurses along the way, but didn't say much to them. Except a certain endoscopic surgeon that popped out of nowhere.

"Oh my God! What the hell?" Lu shrieked.

She felt as if a firecracker just barely popped in her hand. Tomoe was calm and apologetic.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Tomoe Tachibana, an endoscopic surgeon here at Resurgam." she introduced.

"Uh...Don't worry. I-I'm Lu. Lu Delano."

She was breathing heavily to recover from fear. Tomoe bowed in the way of the traditional Japanese. Lu slightly understood, and bowed as well.

"Oh, do you come from Japan as well?"

"No, I just dabble with some Japanese knowledge."

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Dr. Delano. I hope to see you again."

And just like that, the honorable Tomoe disappeared into the thin air off to who-knows-where. Lu held her head in her hands and breathed hardly trying to recover from the shock. It took awhile, but she managed to pull through.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Good, let's get this over with. I'll show you to the other top doctors. Our top surgeon isn't here right now, but he should be sooner or later."

"...'Kay."

Lu and Maria wandered around the hospital, looking for doctors. Lu was introduced to several more nurses, which she really despised needing to know more since her memory has been shot since forever. Anyways, she was introduced to Dr. Kimishima, the forensics specialist, Dr. Freebird, the orthopedic specialist, and a bunch of other doctors and surgeons that didn't quite stand out much to her. The one that really piqued Lu's interest the most was the top diagnostician, Dr. Cunningham. Lu liked his sarcasm, and found him hilarious at times. Lu was kind of sadistic and burst out laughing whenever RONI tended to push Gabriel's buttons.

"Nice to see that we've got a dead serious dermatologist." Gabriel remarked.

Ah, it was always a good sense of sarcasm that Lu appreciated the most in people. She's never one to take a moment too seriously.

"I'm Lu Delano." Lu struggled through laughter and tears.

"I'm Gabriel Cunningham. Hope to see ya around."

Gabe smiled at the choked up dermatologist. If it was a sign that he liked her, was proud of his performance, possibly he's secretly sadistic, who really knows? Do you? Probably not. Your guess is about as good as anyone else's. But it's a nice thought, ya know? I'm not exactly very good at portraying someone else's character. So I'm not exactly in position to state why the diagnostician is smiling. Also, I'm making too much out of nothing. I know. But every little detail has to have some sort of meaning. Those of you that are reading this probably know Dr. Cunningham more than I do anyways.

"Yeah, you seem cool. Later."

Like that, she's out.

"I hope you can catch up to the rest of us. Don't strain yourself, Lu."

Maria added when she tried to catch up. This utterly insulted Lu, and provoked her to stay on the job as often as possible. Save as many patients as she could. Sure, any normal person would say that looking at Lu she was weak. This is very much true as well. But she didn't exactly appreciate the fact being pointed out by anyone. Lu ignored the side comment which was the real meaning behind the paramedic's words. "Don't strain yourself" didn't exist in her interpretation. The dermatologist was gonna stay at Resurgam First Care and treat patients until her salary put the other doctors' to shame. Dr. Delano was secretly competitive, and not too conscious of it either. She'd be number one, no matter what it took. Even on her off days she'd stick around to treat more patients. No time for socializing or settling down. Patients go first.

"Sure."

Lu replied, as she started to leave the scene.

"Oh, there you are Lu. Ready for your first patient?"

Chief Esha asked as she saw the dermatologist come down the hall.

"Yeah, what do I have to do?"

"Just a simple nose job. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Lu smiled at the simplicity of her first task.

"Right."

Did I mention Dr. Delano was an artist? She was interested in dermatology for two reasons. One: To save people from serious burns and skin cancers. Two: Botox and other forms of fixing up people's appearances. Lu is a terrible judge of faces, but she's good at replicating things. Give her a picture, and with the right tools she can make a really close replica.

Speakin' of replicas, all day she did nose jobs, face lifts, boob jobs, botox, just about anything and everything. During the night she practiced face lifts and nose jobs on dead bodies in the morgue. So much determination is something that people should think to look up to. Kind of inspirational. A great influence. Mostly, in my opinion, a way to say, "I seriously need to work on my job more, if I wanna catch up to her." Lu got several raises for her hard work. Everything seemed to be looking up for her. The sleepless nights were definitely worth it.

Then one day, an explosion happened downtown. Maria rushed to treat patients at the scene. There were too many for her to handle, and several were rushed to Resurgam First Care. Since Lu was thought of as the top dermatologist quickly, she was expected to treat most of the victims that came to the hospital. It was her day off, which was the worst part about it. The dermatologist got the call in the middle of her working on a sculpture.

"Lu, come quick! There are patients everywhere!"

The chief flat out shrieked into the phone. Dr. Delano put the receiver a little far from her ear so she wouldn't get a headache.

"Today's my day off. Can't I just put it off 'til later? Let the paramedics take care of it."

"They can't! There're too many victims! Hurry your ass over here and treat the patients! We need your skill!"

"Ugh, fine. I'm on my way."

This was flat out irritating, but Lu got in her car and slugged on over to Resurgam. Definitely the worst time to be in her shoes. She hasn't slept for a few days. In fact, this was the longest she's been without sleep in her life. But her job was more important to her at the moment. The doctor could tell by the boss's tone that she couldn't make any excuse, even if it was true. Also, Dr. Delano didn't like it when people worried about her. She made several facial expressions and stretched a little bit so her muscles would start to be more active and awake before entering the hospital and tending to the patients.

"How many do I need to work on?"

She asked.

"Five, one after the other."

Hank reported. Lu rushed to the operation room. Tomoe would be assisting her in the operation.

"Okay, time for the conference,"

_Yaaaaaaaawnnnnn..._

"Lu, if you're tired we can leave this to the other dermatologists."

"Nah, my job isn't as hard as it seems...as long as it's not Mohs. Go ahead."

"Okay, the patients you will be treating have been in an explosion. You'll have to treat second and third degree burns on five patients. Do you think you can do it, doctor?"

"Definitely. Let's get this over with."

Mohs surgery is used to excise skin cancers. Luckily, this was only a burn procedure, and didn't require too much because all authority she had to treat were the external injuries.

"Damn, this one has skin cancer. Beginning excision."

Lu was on the last patient, who unfortunately for both the patient and doctor, had skin cancer.

"Are you sure you want to do this procedure, Dr. Delano? You seem awful tired, I suggest you rest."

"My job is to save lives. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. It's the last patient. I'll stay alert."

The dermatologist knew very well her consciousness was fading, and Tomoe was absolutely right. But Lu knew her job wouldn't be done until the skin was completely treated. Mohs surgery is a very delicate procedure, which was nearly the reason why Lu didn't get a degree in dermatology. Treating skin cancer was her weakest subject, but she still endured it, nonetheless. Successful treatment was possible, and common for her with a little luck, but she still despised the procedure.

"There's only one excision left, doctor. Well done."

"Thank...yo-"

Passed out. Fell asleep, right there on the operation floor. Several nurses began to panic, but got another dermatologist to take her place. If I was in that situation, I'd have probably fainted. Like, you know, if I was one of the nurses, or even Tomoe assisting her operate. The patient was saved. Lu was hospitalized because her head met the EKG... They were not good friends.

* * *

**A/N: **Don't you dare ask who the narrator is. He's anonymous. 'Kay? _**'KAY?**_ Ahem... This is the first story I've written for Trauma Team...or any game in the Trauma Center series... So, if my portrayal of the characters seems a little off, I'm sorry...lol. This writing style is definitely a new experience for me. I tried to make it seem like the narrator knew you were listening, and telling you the story face to face. Surprisingly light on the language this time around for me. I'd really appreciate the critiques. Thanks for reading the first chapter! :0)


	2. Friendship

**A/N: **Ffff- This writing style is so complex for me to work with. But in a way it's kind of fun, it challenges my writing abilities. Before anyone says anything, this is all unplanned and improv, which is why sense of plot might be difficult to find. This chapter was kind of fun to write. For some reason I wanted the narrator to interact more with the audience, because that's simply his personality when he starts to get deeper into his story. He gets...well...distracted by some of the listeners out there. Those that enjoyed the previous chapter, I hope you enjoy this one. :0)

* * *

So, we meet again? Ah, I'm glad you're still interested in my tale. Even though this story takes place not too long after the Rosalia virus disappeared, it's nice to know that someone is listening. I'm curious as to why this story intrigues you. Of course, you don't have to answer. But it's a nice thought, ya know? ...That's gonna become my catchphrase isn't it? I'm a new storyteller, I apologize for the cheesy one-liners I might throw out there in the future.

The night before, top dermatologist of Resurgam First Care; Lu Delano fell asleep in the middle of Mohs surgery. There isn't a need to worry, though. Another dermatologist took her place for the last piece of the puzzle and cured the patient. Now Dr. Delano is having a much needed rest. Time? About three o' clock in the afternoon. Place? Dr. Cunningham's office. On the couch. Gabriel was on the opposite side of her, sipping coffee and checking the dermatologist's patient's MRI. Better safe than sorry as they always say, she got bopped in the head with electricity. Not to mention the fact that she was an extremely sleep deprived insomniac... _**Dear God, I just repeated myself!**_ *head desk*

"Where am I?"

She lightly asked the ceiling fan when she first woke up, her glasses no longer on her face.

"Oh, morning Sleeping Beauty. Thought you'd never wake up."

Gabriel acknowledged and spun his chair towards Lu. Dr. Delano was dead serious whenever she woke up, and tried to hide a smile like the joke never happened.

"What just happened again?"

"You passed out in the middle of an operation. I'm just trying to figure out why."

"Oh, don't worry. I've been having sleeping issues lately, that's all."

Eh, it was a half-truth. I'll give her points for that. She surely wasn't sleeping, but not because it was a problem. She always felt more calm when people didn't worry about her. She always thought other people's lives were more interesting, therefore more important than her own.

"Why's that?"

Lu's lips sucked into her mouth when she heard Gabriel utter those words. But come on, he's a diagnostician. Of course he'd ask his patient that. For the record, I'm not on anyone's side, I'm just telling the story. Geez.

"Don't tell me you're purposely depriving yourself of sleep."

In response, Dr. Delano simply had her pupils meet each other for a little party. Gabriel separated from the scans and walked over to Lu.

"Where're my glasses?"

The dermatologist struggled to bring the subject off-topic. Also, being sightless made her very much afraid. She will literally do nothing without her glasses. She even showers with them on. Gabriel took the glasses off the relatively messy coffee table and put them on Lu's face. Lu could tell, now that she could see, that Gabriel was either frustrated or disappointed in her. Which she really couldn't blame him for. I mean, really. She passed out in the middle of surgery because she couldn't take care of herself.

"You're lucky that was your day off. If it wasn't you'd be out of a job."

In a way, Lu was relieved. I mean, come on. You've heard me ramble on about how hard she was working. If she had to leave now that'd all be for nothing. I swear, if she was fired and I was in her shoes, I'd run screaming down the halls of the hospital until they'd let me back in. Very strange, I know. But hey, everyone is different.

"Yeah. Thanks for taking me in."

"Don't mention it."

"I guess I'll be on my way."

"The chief gave you an entire week off to recover. Why don't you take advantage of it? We could just hang out a bit. I was gonna be on my way out today, but I had to take care of _you_ first."

I'm pretty sure Gabriel was just interested in Lu. Curious, even. Or possibly it's just his well-known, natural, friendly demeanor that took over at the moment.

Like I said before, I don't know Gabriel very well. I know I'm supposed to be the 'all-knowing' Anonymous narrator. But strictly speaking I'm just the Anonymous narrator who happens to be good friends with one of the characters in my story.

Ahem, back to the story.

Lu wasn't exactly all that outgoing with people she just met. She was willing to try when someone offered her the chance though.

"Sorry, uh, sure."

Gabriel smiled.

"Great, so, you wanna go out for a drink or somethin'?"

"No thanks, I don't drink. What about a bite to eat?"

"Sure, my treat."

Personally, Lu wanted to pay for herself. But she always shut up when someone was actually _offering _to be nice to her. The two were on their way out the hospital when they stumbled upon the red eyed surgeon. Don't act like you have no clue who he is. Who doesn't know CR-S01? I see you out there little noobie that hasn't played the game yet. Just because of that, I'm not explaining it to you either. That's right, Alex, I'm talkin' to you. I'll get back to _you _later.

"Hey, kid. How's it goin'?"

Gabriel waved to the surgeon as he entered the hospital. Lu didn't know what was going on, since she hadn't met the surgeon previously, and simply let the two have their conversation.

"Hello, Gabriel. Who is this?"

Lu was completely not paying attention and already flipped her attention switch to simply wondering about completely off-topic things like, "I wonder if I got that shade of red today..." for her artwork. Gabriel simply patted her on the back enough that she was shoved so she could get back on track as to the current situation.

"I, uh, I'm Lu."

"She's the new dermatologist here at Resurgam."

"Oh, well it's a pleasure to meet you, Lu."

Like that, the falsely accused left to operate.

"Most of us just call him kid, since we don't know his real name. The boy's dead serious, but we like having him around. He's a good surgeon."

"'Kay."

The two took Gabriel's car to an Italian restaurant downtown, much to Lu's luck. Lu is extremely picky and doesn't eat something she's already tried before...and if the Italian last name wasn't enough, she loves Italian food.

It started to become difficult for Gabriel to hold a conversation with Lu, since she barely made a comment after everything he said. After a while it became easier as she became more comfortable with talking to him. Lu also tried to find stories to tell him, both made up and real. The barrier between the two was extremely hard to find due to her exceptional improv practice with friends and family. Admittedly, Gabe got rather bored after awhile because all she talked about was work. But they both chatted and found some common interests over dinner. This was Lu's first new friend in a long time. Eight to ten years if you wanna get specific. She simply doesn't get along with people often. It's not _always _that people don't like her. Well, it's like Soviet Russia. **Her** don't like **people**. (Reverse. Get it? *shot*) But at the same time she likes other peoples' company. It changes, so to put it bluntly, your mileage may vary.

Yeah, Alex, I still see you not understanding this. Go back to being a douchebag and stop reading the story. But Sam, you, you're actually following along. Keep that up.

"So, any luck adjusting to Resurgam? I heard you've never even step foot in a hospital."

"Kind of. Heheh. Yeah, I used to work at a clinic but I'm getting used to the hospital life...and Oregon. I used to live in Missouri, which was kind of boring. But this place is too, so it all works out."

"Ahaha! You catch on fast!"

"I remember liking my RONI system a lot when I was a diagnostician. Especially with the default for finding new symptoms, 'Congratulations, you recieved the symptom: X' Human translation in summary: Congratulations, you have herpes."

Lu really loves jokes but sometimes isn't the best at making the greatest ones. In a way, sometimes they're kind of cheesy. She just got lucky with that one, because a friend she made online came up with that when she told about her first diagnosis with the system.

"Can't we talk about something other than work? Sheesh, talk about a workaholic."

Her mind went blank when she heard 'talk about something other than x'. Very very bad at making conversation she tends to be. Lu was just a few years under or around thirty, and hadn't really developed much of a life yet. Sure, she had her childhood, but who the hell wants to talk about that? She considered discussing her artwork, but technically speaking that classifies as her second job.

"Don't ya have anything you do in your freetime besides work?"

"Technically no. I have two jobs. One in the hospital and one at home."

"Oh, what about the home job? If you can't stop talking about work. I've never seen a person that was so obsessed with work."

"Well, I'm an artist. I don't really get too much out of it though. If I'm lucky I just get in a few local shows, but otherwise nothing interesting comes out of it."

Alex. *slaps* _**Pay. **__Attention. _Why are you still here? What'd she say? Pff, something about being an artist. Oh, shut up about me not paying attention to my own story. I am, 'kay? Why'd you think I became a storyteller? Sorry for kind of breaking the fourth wall in terms of narrator to listener.

**As I was saying. **(Alex, you better still be listening.) Gabriel was kind of intrigued by this, or maybe he was just happy he found an open window for conversation they both might be interested in. For Lu it was work, for Gabe it just seemed more like a passionate hobby.

"Why don't you try to sell your pieces?"

"I never find any commissioners or anything."

"Oh, really? I'd be willing to commission you."

"But, you haven't even seen if my work is any good or not."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not exactly the artsy type anyhow. Even if I did see your work, I wouldn't exactly be the judge if it's any good or not."

Lu found the fact that she got her first commission heartwarming. She really hated to admit it to herself how much she appreciated the financial help too.

Oh, what's that? Is that actually a smile? Like a _real _smile and not a picture perfect photo smile? Make that _almost_ a smile. Ack, I got a little off-track. Might as well tell you how that situation went down. The corners of her mouth tried to muster a smile, but her stubbornness to show any emotion other than laughter fought it. She knew there was nothing funny about this situation in the slightest, and she wasn't the emotional type.

"Okay. So do you want a painting or a drawing or a scu-"

"Just whatever you think would make my exam room look nicer. Patients won't stop complaining about how boring it looks."

A relatively simple task, but she knew she had to see the exam room again... Maybe even take a couple pictures so she could memorize the already provided background for her piece. The real question was really how she was gonna get a good sight of it with about a week off of simply seeing the place it was housed in.

"'Kay. I'll see you tommorrow."

"What for?"

Lu simply hitched a taxi outside the restaurant...leaving Gabe with the bill. But she wasn't guilty about it or anything. Pfft, who would be? He offered to pay, after all.

* * *

**A/N: **I don't know why I had such a hard time writing this chapter. Probably has something to do with the fact that I slept at five and woke up at two. _Ooh, seven hours of sleep, what a torture._ I'm used to sleeping in for like twelve hours during the summer, 'kay? I've been working too hard on this fanfic, I'll make like a lazed cat at sunset and relax.

Sorry to those misfortunate enough to have the names Alex and Sam and are reading this! Especially no offense to Alex, I just felt some sick reason to scare some readers a bit. Hence the warning about the narrator 'interracting more with the audience'. Yes, I did mean literally.


	3. Terrorism

**A/N: **Yes, I know I said I was gonna slack off and not bother to update this day after day after day, but I can't help it. Albeit even when I go to Florida on the twentieth I'll be brainstorming for this thing. ^^;

And I love you all for reviewing, seriously, even if this story is just improv I love making it. The people that review it help me muster the inspiration to write more. I'll try to finish this story! As long as it doesn't end up too long that should be easy. :D

Lastly, I apologize for Anonymous's slightly angry demeanor in the last chapter. Especially Alex and Sam... If there's anyone reading it with those names. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's start this chapter!

* * *

Suspense! I know everyone loves a good drama. I'm not one to judge if this is good or bad drama by any means, but there's a mystery. Too bad we don't have Scooby-Doo or Sherlock Holmes to help us solve this case. But, pff, we've got Naomi, which is close enough.

Anyways, Lu went to the hospital with a disposable camera so she could take pictures for her commission. She decided it'd be best to directly go to the person who had the room in the first place. She didn't know his phone number, so she may as well go there in person.

"Uh, hello, I need to visit Dr. Cunningham?"

Her manner of seeing if she could visit him was definitely a question.

"Oh, Dr. Delano, I thought you were on leave for a little bit to recover."

"Yeah, I just wanna visit a friend."

Technically speaking, just wanting to visit someone wasn't something Lu always did, but this was for her pieces.

"Alright, Follow me."

The nurse started to lead Lu down the hall where all the patients were, rather than towards Dr. Cunningham's office.

"What's going on?"

When they got to a certain room, the nurse explained.

"Dr. Cunningham was the victim of an explosion downtown at a restaurant."

Oh, instead of feeling pity, Lu was actually _relieved_ she wasn't in that mess altogether. Not just the explosion itself, but the fact that she was on leave and not allowed to operate. She could only imagine how many more victims would there be than there was the last explosion. I would probably feel the same thing too, damn that place was packed! What was it? Olive Garden?

But still, myself as the narrator would like to say that the thought even crossing her mind was a bit selfish. I wouldn't blame you for thinking the same thing. I thought as a doctor the patients are supposed to come first. Well I guess if the patient _is _adoctor, that's not the case.

Lu was placed in the room with Gabriel.

"A little strange of you to leave just about right before the explosion."

Lu simply rolled her eyes... But she was actually feeling extremely guilty by this statement.

"I think it's a little strange that there was another explosion downtown, hardly a day after the last one."

She was shaking, and her arm was twitching wildly. This was always the way her body reacted when she was pinned for something, whether she committed the crime or not. Her breathing was a little more rapid than usual too. Lu always managed to hide it, but Gabriel found her reaction ridiculously noticeable.

"You okay? Don't tell me I have to examine you or anything."

"I'm fine Gabriel."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Lu was, admittedly relieved to hear that statement. She was only _slightly _relieved because she still considered herself accused of mass homicide.

"You sure you're not sick or anything?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm just fine."

Her words were a little shaky though, to go along with her guilt. Since Lu felt Gabriel was the only person that would listen to her in this whole hospital, she decided to dump some thoughts on him.

"But seriously, isn't it weird that someone's just randomly bombarding downtown!"

More or less a statement rather than a question. Lu was never one to use such ancient words in conversation such as 'bombarding', but she couldn't find a way to fit the word 'homicide' into the way she was presenting her theory.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, when I passed out it was during an operation on victims of an explosion downtown. You're one of those people in the most recent one. I just think this is too _convenient _to be coincidence."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Naomi stepped in. Wait, where was she? I didn't hear the door open or her coming in. Maybe she was quiet about her entry, or Lu left the door open or something. Anyways, Naomi heard the whole thing from the top.

"I believe that someone or something is bombing downtown. My theory makes a lot more sense now, since I'm not the only one thinking that's the case. The real question is, who's doing it and what's their motivation?"

"_**Terrorists!**_"

Literally, Lu's answer to anything violent, either guns or terrorism. You can't say that doesn't make any sense due to the massive proof that is 9/11. But why Oregon of all states? If you're a terrorist, go for the Big Apple or the White House. Some place that the government actually cares about. Stupid noob terrorists, I sure hope that their terrorists at least. If it does these attacks would make a lot more sense.

"If that's the case then these attacks make a lot more sense. I'll investigate into this matter."

"Good luck."

So Lu and Gabriel were on their own.

"So, how's the commission thing goin'?"

"Oh, I came over to take pictures of your office. That way I'd know what I have to work with."

"Gotcha. You should know where it is. The door's open."

Anyways, this part is boring. So let's catch up with Naomi and see how she's taking care of the terrorists I mean mysterious explosions…which is kinda boring. Yeah, let's all just call them terrorist attacks.

"It was the oven that exploded in one of the kitchens."

A police officer reported to Naomi at the scene. Next thing you know Naomi's phone rings.

"Just a moment."

She said before answering the phone. A mysterious violet shadow cast over her cell phone as she heard one of the victims' last words.

'_Why are you doing this? You bastard!'_

The voice could very well tell that this victim was a male. Oh, as if it was only coincidence the man's body that the voice belonged to lay dead right in front of her. He had a few wrapped injuries. A thought came to Naomi's mind that this man was in the last explosion, and survived. The second explosion he simply didn't get as lucky. This wasn't exactly confirmable though, until she looked the corpse more into detail.

"I will investigate this corpse, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Dr. Kimishima."

The two police officers that accompanied her at the scene bagged the corpse as delicately as possible. It was filthy with dirt and rubble, but Naomi wanted the corpse to be left as it is. The corpse grasped to a fork in his hand. Naomi gracefully took it out to be analyzed by Little Guy later on. Possibly they could find a match with the DNA on it if it was used.

I'm not sure how forensics actually works, so anything Naomi does from this point on I'll have to make a wild guess. It's kind of like detective work. We might as well get back to Lu. This is ridiculously out of character for her. I wish I could just pick her up by the collar and place her somewhere else in the world. I would never imagine Lu to be standing in the courtyard just to look at the flowers. There are tons of bugs there, and she despises being bitten by every single one of them…which tends to happen, literally, every time she goes out in the summer. Okay, fine. In her defense it's spring time. But summer is definitely nearing.

Hank saw her over there and dared question:

"What are you doing out here? I thought you were on leave."

"I am, but I happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I stopped by."

Lu promised herself to slap herself later for using such a cliché line. She picked a few of her favorites delicately from the garden. Tiger lilies, to be precise.

"They sure are beautiful, aren't they?"

Hank marveled at the two adult tiger lilies Lu held like pencils in her hand.

"I'm not sure if they're beautiful, but they have a vibrant color. They remind me of one of my best friends, she always grew these in the back of her house."

She looked for some other flowers she could identify. Then the thought died of loneliness since she only knew about three or four different types of flowers.

"Do you like flowers?"

"I like well-bloomed flowers like these. It's rare to see them this vibrant."

"Yeah, but it is nice to see once you get the chance."

"Well, I must be on my way. If the Chief catches me here I might get in trouble."

Lu left the maze of flowers, after getting bitten by a couple mosquitoes. She needed to go to the art supply store to buy some acrylics. She planned on doing a painting since the exam room itself was too small for an actual sculpture. This means she needed a lot of browns she never had and never will have.

Who cares about that? Let's get back to Naomi.

"Hey, Little Guy, I need you to analyze this."

Naomi somehow found some blood of the people that were injured at the scene.

"There are traces of gun powder. This type is rare, and can only be made in Afghanistan."

"So we might be dealing with terrorists after all."

"Terrorists? Where'd you get that idea from?"

"Lu. She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but the proposal starts to make some more sense with the gun powder you found in the blood. This is important, thanks."

_**BOOM!**_ This time the explosion was so big, or close, it made Naomi's whole office shake.

"Dr. Kimishima, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Probably another explosion downtown. I'll get back to you; I'm going to the scene."

This explosion was different, and was followed by several lesser explosions. Not that this was intended by the attackers. Okay, maybe it was intended by the attackers, unless they're really that stupid. The building that was the victim of this explosion was a general store, which had a gas station neighboring it. This attack was definitely much more effective and destructive.

Of course the paramedics come to the rescue. Wow…Maria isn't on her own this time? That's definitely strange, but I might as well give you the reason why. A new paramedic came to Resurgam First Care and his name is Adam. He's still in training; this is his first time dealing with an actual situation. Appearance? A little over six feet high, well tanned skin, (even though it looks kind of orange) messy brown hair, brown eyes, and of course he's wearing the usual paramedic uniform.

"I'm with Resurgam First Care, what's going on?" Maria hollered.

"We don't know, the store just exploded into bits!" the store clerk replied through the agonizing screams of victims.

"Ugh, Adam, you find survivors, I'll take care of them."

"But aren't I supposed to-"

"Just find them, damn it!"

Adam was mildly scared by his mentor, so he loyally went into the general store to find survivors. No one trusts the noobies, in gaming _or _in real life…or fanfictions of games if you wanna get specific.

"What happened here?"

Naomi asked Maria when she came to the scene.

"The cause is still unknown Naomi."

Maria yelled while desperately performing CPR on a survivor.

"Might wanna ask one of the survivors that. Hey, you. You have something to say?"

She asked one of the several she was tending to, that seemed to be gasping for air to speak with.

"I-It started in the…the cleaning supplies…"

"Did you hear that, Naomi?"

"Yeah, I'll get to that section of the store."

Even though the explosion was large, the building was only remotely crumbling and Naomi could still go to the origin. Her only real obstacle was the fact that the explosion was partially gasoline fueled, and fire was still burning in the remains of the store.

Captain America Falcon Eagle was trying to chase down the people behind this, but he couldn't find the culprit anywhere. Honestly I just mentioned that to applaud him for his great efforts…and make fun of his superhero name.

Anyways, Naomi could easily escape the flames, because there are slim to none flames left there thanks to the fire department. She found traces of strange liquids that she wanted to believe were gasoline, but the smell definitely wasn't. It was poison, not just one poison, but a combination of plenty common poisons.

Naomi decided to go to Little Guy to have this poison analyzed.

"Little Guy, could you take a look?"

"Of course, Dr. Kimishima. Oh, whaddya know."

"What's that Little Guy?"

"These are the same traces of poison that were found in the gun powder of the first attack."

"What are they?"

"Uh…pesticide, cyanide, and biocide."

"It's a little to convenient for me, don't you think? Almost like they added this hint so it'd be easier for us to trace them. They could very likely be just a crazy serial killer mostly doing this to kill people rather than just experiment with explosives."

"I doubt it. I didn't bring up the poisons the first time because there were so little traces of it, it didn't really matter much to me."

"Every abnormal quality is an important clue, Little Guy."

"Sorry, I'll try to keep you more informed in the future."

"Because of this information, our attacker could very well be a scientist. No, they wouldn't get anything out of this whatsoever."

"You should probably try investigating the scene one more time, to see if you can find the bomb if there was one."

"I was about to be on my way to do that Little Guy. Thank you very much."

* * *

**A/N: **For some reason I really wanted to try writing a lot of Naomi and experiment a little with Hank. Naomi's for plot, Hank's for filler. YAAAAAY~ Gah, I didn't want to use myself too much in this chapter either. Also, I really wanted to start making some plot and I simply didn't fit too much in said plot by any means. I was thinking of making myself help Naomi, but that's not Naomi's style. She would most definitely work alone and I'm not exactly observant enough to be a detective. Eventually, I'll find out a way to make this more interesting. :l

Thanks for reading!


	4. Kindness

**A/N: **After a long hiatus of completely relaxing and enjoying my summer vacation; I'm back to writing! :-) My sense of plot probably isn't the best either, because I tried to have two going on at once. That's confusing, isn't it? I'm sorry. :P

Like, you know, one with the terrorist attacks and the other with my lame self-insert. Speaking of that, I feel more than relieved that the people that read it don't think my interpretation of myself is a Mary Sue. :D _I AIM FOR REALISM. _*coughsometimescough*

But yeah, this chapter's a lot like chapter two. *shot for breaking the fourth wall* which is a little bit more of a relationship builder chapter in my eyes. Ah, well.

* * *

Well, we're back to the story. I myself would say it's starting to get more interesting and more of a mystery since Naomi's getting involved. But it's outright confusing to tell two stories at once, isn't it? So I'll try telling Lu's story in this chapter, since I told Naomi's in the last one…since they have no relevance whatsoever. The stories may collide soon, I'm not so sure. But of course we'll figure out soon enough.

Gabriel got let out of prison, er…the hospital…today…and of course was left on a leave of absence so he could recover. He stumbled upon Lu on his way out.

"Yo."

"Hey. My house has a mosquito problem."

"Why's that?"

"I let my window open because my A/C wasn't working. Anyways, I got the exterminator, but he said I have to spend the night at a hotel or something tonight. But I don't wanna pay for one, so I wanted to see if you could do me a favor."

"Of course. You have your stuff packed?"

"Yeah, at my loft downtown."

"I'll get ya there and you can stay at my place."

"Thanks, man."

There's something about Lu saying 'man' that doesn't make it look weird. Maybe she gets it from her dad.

"Gabe, I know you're on your way out, but you're getting a call from your office phone."

Chief called, catching up to him.

"Alright, I'm on my way. Sit tight."

Okay, fine. Gabriel found it more than suspicious that someone was calling him from his office phone.

"Gabriel, this is Lisa."

"Hm?"

"I have an important meeting all day. You're gonna have to take Joshua tonight to spend the night at your house."

He may be a bachelor now, but Lisa has made Joshua his responsibility a tad bit more often. With a sigh, he responded:

"Fine, I'll be there as fast as I can."

Then he hung up the phone. There was no use avoiding it, both of them had to spend the night at his house.

"Something wrong?"

Lu asked as Gabriel neared her with a slightly frustrated expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You don't mind my son spending the night with us too, right?"

"Not at all."

Okay, fine that was an outright lie. Lu hates kids to a point it sometimes gets a little disturbing. But whatever was happening was none of her business. They hopped in the car and were on their way to Lu's loft, then Joshua.

"So, where is it again?"

"Uh…It's in the middle of downtown, Pearl District, and Willamette River."

"Wow, thanks for your five star instructions. Smart ass."

"Haha, no problem."

Well, they got to Lu's loft no problem. (THANK GOD. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT IS.) Then they came over to Joshua. He was more than hesitant about leaving the house, and Lu stay put more as a Jack-In-The-Box surprise for Joshua. As soon as he got comfortable in the car, Lu shouted:

"**PEEK-A-BOO!**"

"Ahh!"

I don't mean to toot Lu's horn, but she has the most demonic scream I've ever heard. I mean seriously. She's like Bowser except in human form…and a chick.

"Joshua, this is a friend I made at work. Her name's Lu. Don't worry, she won't bite."

"Yeah, I just get a little playful sometimes. Sorry."

Joshua was still a little scared for his life.

"Oh, ah…don't worry. I-It's okay."

He had assumed if his dad could trust Lu, he could too. Joshua tried to muster relaxation, which was relatively easy because Lu was playing such relaxing music. You guys remember Fireflies, right? No, not those silly bugs, the song. Lu has all their songs, she's a big fan. If you haven't heard anything other than Fireflies and consider yourself an Owl City fan, then I banish thee from the forest. They have tons of great songs, like Rainbow Veins, Technicolor Phase, and Strawberry Avalanche. Strawberry Avalanche is a personal favorite of mine. But that dumbass was playing Early Birdie. Not that it's a bad song or anything; it's just not exactly my favorite.

"D-dad, I like your music."

"Nah, this is Lu's."

"Really?"

If you didn't get it by now, Owl City is a really happy and perky band, er...person. The way Lu dresses and acts simply doesn't match that by any means. So I wouldn't blame the kid for being surprised that Lu picked it.

Joshua, I think, is acting like most kids that see Lu. Now, it's not that Lu herself looks ugly; she just has scary fashion sense. If you didn't get it by now, Tripp pants, leather boots and a corset today. Seriously, if there's anything that chick hates, it's kids. Not exactly that they're a pain in the neck to take care of, they're just bratty and they tend to offend Lu a lot by staring at her. They're afraid of her because she's a little dark. Stereotypical bastards.

"Well, I-I like your music, Lu."

"Thanks, you have good taste."

"Th-Thank you!"

Lu simply nodded. Gabriel made several hints to try and make conversation, but that's simply something Lu cannot do…well, at least not well.

"Do you have Apples to Apples?"

She asked. It took Gabriel a while to realize she was talking to him.

"Oh, nope."

"Then let's stop somewhere and get it. We don't want Joshua to be bored, do we?"

Joshua smiled. He had never played the game before, but he thought it seemed fun. Gabriel willingly stopped at a toy store and let Lu out to get it.

"Can I go with her?"

Joshua quietly asked from the back seat.

"Sure, just don't get lost, 'kay?"

Joshua willingly nodded and followed closely behind Lu...no matter how scary her Tripp pants were.

"Almost didn't see you there."

Lu smiled and held Joshua's hand in the store. She thanked a God if there is one that his hand wasn't oily. There's nothing she despised more than a sweaty, oily, overly textured, hand. Even though this made her realize how ridiculously small her hand was. Her hand was about the same size as the tentative boy's…possibly smaller.

"What's Apples to Apples?"

"It's a fun game. You get to know people better."

"How?"

"Well, one person has an adjective, and everyone else has a deck of nouns. The people that have the nouns try to guess what the adjective person would be closest to the adjective they have."

"That's a little confusing."

"You'll catch on. The instructions in the game are much better than mine- Oh, here it is."

Lu snatched a small box off of one of the board game shelves.

"Isn't that a little small for a board?"

"It's not a board game, it's a card game. The store just misplaced it. Fa-"

Lu caught herself. Joshua's only about ten or eleven, you're not supposed to curse in front of little kids! This was gonna be harder on her than she thought.

"Something wrong?"

"Nope."

"Okay…If you don't mind my asking, why is your hand so cold?"

"I practically live in an ice box, to prevent bugs."

Technically speaking the idea seemed genius to any victim of massive bug bites. In my opinion, this makes the reason she's staying at Gabriel's all the more ironic. As Lu purchased the game, Joshua asked another question.

"How can you stand wearing a bunch of clothes in the summer?"

Today, Lu wasn't just wearing Tripp pants; they were oversized Tripp pants, which completely covered her legs. It doesn't exactly help with the fact that she always wore leather boots either. You'd imagine her shirt to make sense. It was a corset, but she added extremely long gloves that went all the way to her shoulders.

"I'm kinda cold today."

Actually, she was feeling relatively feverish outside of her icebox, but she'd survive. Also, it was a sensible excuse. She didn't really want to mention how much she hated showing any skin. The two made their way out of the toy store in one piece and were on their way over to Gabriel's.

"So, you know how to play?"

"Yeah, it's not really that hard. It's usually more fun in a bigger group, but we should still have fun anyways."

As soon as they got to Gabriel's they set the game up and begun to play.

"Everyone always has five red cards…I think." Lu began.

"How long do we play, exactly?" Gabriel asked.

"Until we run out of green cards…I think. It's been awhile since I played, don't question me. Order I guess goes clockwise around the table, so Gabe, you get the first green card."

"But we still don't know how to play."

"You guys will catch on. Now, what's it say?"

"Eh…bright."

"Okay, now, Joshua, pick a card out of what you have that matches it and put it down upside down on the table."

"Okay, but…none of these really match." Joshua hesitantly replied.

"That's okay; the best thing about this game is that not much makes sense. Just get it as close as you can." Lu encouraged.

When the two finally chose, Gabriel picked up the two cards and picked up on the game instructions right away.

"Okay, let me know when you guys know the answer to this: How is lobster or Mickey Mouse in any way bright?" Gabriel asked, stifling a laugh.

"Lobster is shiny." Joshua replied.

"Disney is where dreams come true!" Lu disputed.

"Ahahaha, I think the lobster definitely makes a little bit more sense than Mickey Mouse of all people."

"_**Bull!**_" Lu yelled.

She pounded her fist against the table, making the two Cunninghams laugh. Lu always had a knack for overreacting. You'd think it's scary, but actually…it's hilarious to a point I can't describe it.

"Bleh, Joshua gets the 'bright' card. The person with the most green cards wins."

"Oh, I get it."

"Also, you need to get a new red card to replace your old one."

"Okay."

"This time I need something that's fluffy~ Wait, no that says fuzzy. Oh, same difference."

The game went on for hours on end. Somewhere in the middle they even cooked microwave pizzas so they wouldn't get hungry. But it finally ended with Gabriel winning.

"I could've sworn I should've won with a few of those." Lu bickered.

"Good job, dad!" Joshua congratulated.

"Whew. Is anyone tired?" Lu asked.

"No." The two answered bluntly.

"Greeeaaat…" Lu stretched.

"Maybe we could just play again?" Joshua asked.

"You'll wear something out if you overdo it. Once today is good enough." Lu sighed.

"Oh, sorry…"

"Don't worry, it's a good thing you liked the game, isn't it?"

Joshua smiled.

"How about a movie?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Joshua answered happily.

Whee~ Time skipping! They watch _Back to the Future_, everyone goes to bed, Joshua has the nice guest bedroom and Lu has to sleep on the futon. People would think she wouldn't mind, but Lu was always spoiled. She struggles to adjust when she hears footsteps. She didn't wanna bother Gabriel or Joshua so she pretended like she was fast asleep. Then whoever it was lightly tapped her on the back. People believed her to be a heavy sleeper, so as a little bit of an inside joke she only turned herself.

"Uh, L-Lu…?" Joshua kind of whispered.

No response.

"Lu…" Joshua was speaking now, and Lu 'woke up'.

"I-I'm sorry to wake you…but I couldn't sleep…"

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't having much luck sleeping either. You're dad's house must be really scary…or something."

Joshua chuckled lightly.

"So, you wanna chat or something? How's school?"

"Oh, actually it's great! We went on this field trip where we got to make our own soda!"

"I remember that field trip! Did you mix cherry with orange?"

"Yeah, it's the best!"

"I remember trying to make soda at home with lemon juice, water, and baking soda, but I couldn't remember the right measurements."

"I tried it and it came out great."

"Because you have a sharper memory than I do. Don't tell your dad I'm raiding his food."

Lu sighed and went over to the refrigerator and found some ranch dressing. There were also some potato chips conveniently placed on the counter.

"Can I have some? I'm kinda hungry…"

"Of course, why did you even ask?"

"Well, uh…my mom gets mad whenever I don't ask before I do something."

"If I end up hanging out with you more often, don't forget you're more than free to ask me anything. No matter how stupid the question, I'll try to find a decent answer."

"Okay, well…uh…do you like my dad?"

Lu pressured so much air in her mouth, it look like she stuck a water balloon in there. Joshua was only a little kid, Lu came up with a reasonable answer.

"Of course, I do. Gabe and I are friends after all."

"No, I mean more than friends."

There was an awkward silence…except the sound of Joshua smacking on potato chips nervously.

"Definitely not."

"Oh, I see…"

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened with your mom and dad?"

"They just divorced. I don't see Dad very often because he's busy with his job and my mom wants me around more anyways… How about your parents?"

"…You don't wanna hear about my parents."

"Of course I do! You're such a nice person; I bet your parents were the same."

"Fine, but if you get jealous it's not my fault. My parents divorced too. But they divorced when I was much younger. I was only about three so I don't remember very well. It's not like it's a bad thing, like I don't remember my mom or dad. Actually my parents are still great friends; I get to see both of them a lot. At least…that was before."

"What happened?"

"Kind of the same thing that happened to you. My dad became a nurse, and he spent more time working than with his family. I lived in a really bad time. The housing market was awful, the economy was awful, and people feared for their jobs because of lay-offs. It's not that I was mad at my dad; he only became a nurse so he could support both him and me. But, he was so stressful. It was scary because he was usually so laid back. My mom was starting to get worried too, sometime around the summer. She was much tenser than my dad, so I was used to it. Tons of schools closed in the district she taught in, she was an art teacher. So she had to go back to school too, so she could get a better education degree. I got lonely a lot. My mom was always out doing something and so was my dad. I don't live very close to most of my friends, so I didn't really have anyone to hang out with. Also, my mom doesn't like it when I have friends at home when she's not there. There really wasn't much to do when I was young, and it was a sad time… B-But don't worry about me! I got through it okay."

Lu hates a lot of things, and one of them in particular is talking too much…especially about the past or family. I'm assuming she just found herself so into her story she was talking about the whole thing, and now that she realizes it she's shutting up.

"D-Don't worry. I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. Here, I'll find you some salt and vinegar chips."

"Th…Thank you…"

"No problem."

Lu felt a sense of regret letting herself ramble on so much about her life. She hung her head in shame. You see, the reason Lu doesn't want people worrying about her is actually…surprisingly selfless. She finds others' lives much more interesting, therefore important than her own.

You might say that's why she became a dermatologist, I myself am not sure. Personally, I believe it's the fact that she's an artist and believes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Her creations made with different cosmetic dermatology operations practically give her a walking advertisement. Everyone can see how beautiful her creation is.

But that has nothing to do with the case at hand. Lu really feels bad for Joshua having to hear it, and she had to get space to cry. She didn't want anyone to see her, that'd only show vulnerability.

"Lu…?"

Lu didn't bother to respond. Sympathy only made her cry longer. She's more of an 'I'll get over it' kind of person. Even though responding doesn't help at all. Joshua didn't know what was wrong, whether she was experiencing sudden pain, or if he should call for his dad. He was extremely hesitant, but he hugged Lu's back.

"It's okay."

This didn't really change Lu's mind or anything. It just stirred her emotions more. _'Why does he care? Oh yeah, he's a little kid, that's why.' _She didn't want to stop him. He might get mad or sad. She just wore him like he was a jacket around your waist or something. I wonder if that's considered comfortable…

Whenever Lu cried, it was always very quite with a little bit of a consistent chipper of breath sometime during said tears. It was never really noisy or completely not ignorable. But since the house was empty and quiet, the chippers echoed all throughout the house. This, obviously, woke Gabriel up. The chippers were awfully high pitched, but only to a point where it seemed like hiccups. He assumed Joshua was staying up because he was suffering from the hiccups. Gabriel went to the kitchen to trace the sound. When he saw Lu being the source of the sound, and the tears dripping onto the counter, he was utterly dumbfounded. (That has to be the biggest word I've used in this whole thing. Hooray for me~ let's go for !)

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She just started crying."

Gabriel knew more than anyone else in Portland to just let her be. He's never really seen her cry. It was really all speculation. Nonetheless, he still pats her on the back and stuck with her until she got over it.

"What was that all about?"

He asked when all the tears were done shedding.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing…probably just tired. Sorry about waking you up."

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it."

"Good night."

For the rest of the night, the house was sound. I did fail to mention that Lu recovered much more quickly when Gabriel arrived, correct? I'd like to know what that means, because people always seem like an awful medicine for Lu. Unless, you know, they try to make her laugh. But that wasn't exactly the case this time. I wonder…what's going on in her head?

* * *

**A/N: **I worked too hard on this. Here's your damned chapter four. Sheesh. I know it might not be the best, but it's better than nothing. THREE DAYS. Or was it two? Pfft, who's counting? Yeah, I went too far past my word limit to even _want _to write much of a summary. Not to mention I got my hand messed up when I was skateboarding yesterday. Such a pain to finish this chapter, but I'll try to go through with the story 'til the end. Thanks for reading! Critique is much appreciated!

Oh, and tell your friends. My friends in reality think my fanfiction is dying of loneliness. Jerks.

Lastly, yes, this is turning slowly into a romance novel. Don't bug me, my friends are also pushing me to be set up, so my knowledge of romance is starting to bloom. I wanna test it.


	5. Investigation

**A/N: **See this? This is a chapter. Therefore, I'm kind of rushing myself through this story. This chapter flowed through a little more than the others, but most of the things in this were either speculation or trying to make myself look smart. Oh well. This was kind of fun to write, and I hope a bomb mystery counts as plot. Even though this is kind of a repetition of the Raging Bomber… o_o yeah…wish me luck…

* * *

Let's skip the casualties and get right to the story, shall we? Naomi was working casually on the case. She was about to have a vital piece of evidence sent over to Little Guy to be analyzed. Just then, she received a call. Not just any call, it was completely forced. Her computer was hacked into, and the attackers disguised their voices and IP address to contact her.

"Naomi Kimishima, is it? Former surgeon that can no longer operate due to an incurable disease. Now you're in forensics, performing autopsies. You think you're so tough trying to take over this case and find us. Don't bother tracking this; we're using a computer far away from our base of operations. Look, simply, end this case immediately. If you don't, you'll put everyone you know at risk. If you continue this case for two days, we'll target your friends, and they will be destroyed. A week? You're family's gone. Two weeks and we'll kill you. If you value your friends and family, put this case to a close immediately and don't progress any further. I hope you make a wise decision."

Naomi's eyes only widened slightly as the message completed. But she was greatly affected by this. It would be depressing if her friends died, but more lives would be taken if she put the case to a close now.

"What was that all about?"

Little Guy asked on the computer. Naomi was speechless, thinking.

"Dr. Kimishima? Hello?"

"Oh, Little Guy. The attackers just threatened me. They said they'd kill everyone I know, then me if this case continues. Can you get another detective to finish up the case?"

"Unfortunately, that's impossible. I've already tried to set arrangement for a back-up in case this happened, but all of the other detectives were scared too."

"You're kidding me. What a bunch of idiots."

"But they have every right to be scared, you know? Especially after this incident."

"Yes, but since I can't do it myself I might as well have others do it for me…I have an idea."

"Alright, lemme hear it."

All of the best doctors of Resurgam First Care for a meeting. Gabriel, Maria, Hank, Tomoe, CR-S01, even Lu was called. She was on leave, but it would end tomorrow. Wait, where's Naomi? Surely they didn't forget her, did they? Ugh, let's just see what they got up to.

The chief was taking a while to actually come to the conference room, so everyone was socializing with one another, except our favorite convict. He simply wasn't one for making conversation. He doesn't really seem very interested in it anyways. Maria was the first to approach him.

"C'mon, you're not gonna be out of your cell for very long. Enjoy the time you've got and live a little!"

Just like that, the chief came in and silenced everyone.

"All right, everyone pay attention and take their seats… Gabriel stop flirting with Lu."

"I'm not flirting with her."

Gabriel knew it was a joke, but he couldn't help but let it get to him.

"Yes he is. He is a very naughty naughty boy. I ought to teach him some manners."

RONI emotionlessly joked. Everyone laughed and Gabriel hit the machine with a newspaper.

"Okay, with all of that out of the way, let's begin the conference. Of course we're all aware of all of the explosions that have been happening in the city for the past few days. I can't help but find it a little suspicious that they started shortly after Lu begun her leave."

Guilt all over again.

"Anyways, Naomi recently received a threat from the attackers that don't allow her to investigate the case any further. So, I'll just let her take it from here."

Ah, so Naomi's behind the whole meeting.

"I'm sure you all remember the Raging Bomber from a few months ago?"

Naomi asked the group. Everyone nodded in agreement except Lu.

"Lu, you don't know anything about the Raging Bomber?"

"No. I didn't live in Portland before Rosalia."

"Then how did you know about the Rosalia virus?"

"Well, uh, some of my relatives were on a road trip, and went through Portland. One of them caught the virus, and they were brought back home soon, but they weren't fully treated, and they died."

"What happened to the corpse?"

"Ah, we didn't have enough money to afford for it to be cremated or placed into a coffin. All we got was a gravestone and buried the body as is."

"So you're telling me you couldn't afford cremation or a coffin…but you could afford a gravestone?"

"Of course, I carved the gravestone myself with my dad and a few of his friends."

"…All right. Well, the Raging Bomber was a serial killer that killed famous people. I never got to finding out the reason why, but the convict was punished. The recent bombings seem much similar to those of the Raging Bomber. I found things in clues in this case similar to the solid evidence in the Raging Bomber case. Any ways, I can't investigate this case freely; the attackers are willing to kill you all and myself if I continue this investigation. But of course I can't just let a bomber go about the city bombing as he pleases. I'll split you all into teams of two guided by me. We will solve this case, all seven of us. Tomoe and CR-S01 will be the eyes of the case. They'll observe corpses of bomb victims and find important clues using my tools. Gabriel and Lu will be analyzing and looking over any details sent over to them by the rest of you. You will be using logic and deduction to find solid evidence out of the clues provided by the others. Also, you'll be able to talk to my forensic analyzer as much as you need to. Lastly, Hank and Maria will be the ears. They'll be listening to witness, victim, and suspect testimonies. Try to find anything suspicious. Here are maps to the locations you will be investigating at. Try to keep in touch as much as you can, no one can miss a single detail. All right, now that we have everything understood, let's all work together and find the culprit behind these bombings."

After that…relatively long speech…which I can't believe I remembered… Everyone exits the conference room and tries to make plans to catch the new terrorist(s). At first, of course, everyone had a nice chat for a little bit, wondering if their pays would be raised anymore. But that comment about flirting at the beginning of the conference seemed to be bothering Gabriel. He knew he definitely wasn't trying to, but even RONI thought he was, and that machine takes everything seriously.

"Don't tell me that little comment from the chief is actually bothering you. It was just a joke."

…

"It doesn't seem to be bothering Lu."

"Hell, hardly anything bothers that girl. I kind of wonder if she even listens to half the conferences."

Such an absent-minded person listens to, like, nothing. Unless it's pointless, which I find ironic.

"Well, if that was the case she wouldn't be as good at her job as she is, right?"

"Hey, Gabe, let's finish this case as fast as we can. No time to waste."

Lu butted in.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go over to our office and see what Naomi's already gotten when it comes to clues."

"…Is there something wrong?"

"What? No, of course there isn't anything wrong. I'm fine."

"Whatever you say."

Now, we're getting to Naomi.

"Hey, Little Guy. Didn't you say something to me earlier about an outbreak of Rosalia in Missouri?"

"Yeah, and the state's still struggling with it, even with the antiserum shipped in like you requested."

"I think I'll leave the bombing case to my team, and this outbreak of Rosalia to myself."

"Why would you do that?"

"I think Lu just might be a murderer."

"Huh…? She seems a little incautious to have the abilities or morals to be a murderer. Even when people connected her as a likely suspect to the bombings she felt guilty. Didn't you say something like that, too?"

"Yes, she was shaking at the mention of her being a likely suspect on every occasion it was mentioned. Just her expression at the time seemed that she was about to vomit. Wouldn't it be natural of a criminal to feel guilt?"

"Only if the crime itself was unintentional. Should we interrogate her?"

"I don't think it'd be logical to directly interrogate the suspect. But it'd be the best thing to do right now. I did ask her a few questions, but there are still some left unanswered. Also, I would like for you to question her father. Lu said something about carving a gravestone of a relative that died of Rosalia with her father. I'd like to confirm that that was the truth."

"I see. I'll try to keep them noted when my men interrogate them. Also, I've sent the corpse to CIFM. It should be in the evidence room by now."

"Alright, who is it?"

"Ah…sixty-two year old Monica Hall. We've confirmed that this was the suspect's aunt. Also, the personal effects were not there when we discovered the body."

Naomi went into the evidence room to discover the corpse. The corpse was in worse condition than she thought. Monica was an African American, but it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to tell that her body was almost fully covered in black bruises from Rosalia.

'_How could the virus have progressed this much throughout her body before she died? True, Rosalia does progress at an alarming rate, but it doesn't usually take this long to kill someone with the virus. I better have Little Guy look into this.'_

She might wanna investigate how the virus spread so rapidly across the state after the aunt died too. Naomi didn't really find much, except the vomited blood, which slightly seemed like the blood was still coming out. There were no stab wounds, just massive signs of Rosalia throughout the corpse.

"Hey Little Guy, I want your opinion on these bruises."

"Without a doubt they're Rosalia…but…whoa!"

"Exactly, the body is near fully covered in dying skin from Rosalia. Can you identify which ones were before and after death?"

"Of course, but it'll take awhile, please be patient. Oh, and also Lu and her father's testimonies are recorded. They should be available to listen to with the recorder. But there was something a bit odd about identifying her father. Lu's last name is Delano, but her father's last name is Walker."

"Anyone can legally change their name Little Guy, Lu probably did the same."

"There's more to it than that, we can't find any record of her name change in the system."

"Oh, so Lu must've been using an alias all this time."

"That would have to be the case."

"Did her father recognize her name when we asked about her?"

"Yes, he did."

"Alright, I'll review the voice data. First I'll see what Lu, or whatever her real name is, has to say about this case."

Naomi grabbed the recorder and tried to listen to Lu's testimony to find anything that stood out.

"Hmm? Can we talk later? I'm kinda busy… The FBI? Fine, what do you have to ask me?... My aunt caught Rosalia during a road trip that required her to go through Portland, this was near the end of the virus, I think… It was Lu Lu, I remember because she was the aunt I had that was closest to me… Oh, sorry, I mean Monica. I've always kept Lu Lu as a pet name for her since I was little… Before and after death? Ugh, that brings so much guilt… It feels like I killed her… I was still in college studying dermatology when she asked me about her bruises… I didn't know what to do about them, although I was probably a bit arrogant about my skills in the field of medicine… No, she didn't know that she had Rosalia when she came to me… Did she show any symptoms? I don't think so… I knew that Rosalia existed when she had it, I just don't know the symptoms… I tried to treat the bruises by injecting a burn suppressant into them, they just seemed like burns to me…The texture, color, everything… I panicked when the bruises started to spread more and more throughout her body… Also, the place where I injected the drug began to swell…I told her that I couldn't treat the wounds, and that she should see a doctor that actually graduated from med school… Misuse of the burn suppressant is what I thought resulted in her death, but… I saw her medical records and nearly fainted when she had an unknown disease… Her death came about three to four days after that… No, I didn't witness her death myself…"

'_This testimony actually explains a lot of important clues. Firstly, we can explain why the bruise was spread so far throughout Monica's body. That was the burn suppressant Lu injected to attempt treatment. Admittedly, the Rosalia bruises do somewhat have the appearance and texture of an oddly shaped burn, but I find it strange that Lu didn't ask if her aunt burned the afflicted area. We can also conclude why the arm was swollen, that was also the virus reaction to the burn suppressant as well. She also said she looked up to Monica, and gave her a pet name. Lu's name, obviously, is something different than simply Lu. She must've enjoyed the name and gave it to herself when she was older. It was an alias for her own happiness, perfectly normal. I might want to ask Lu more questions though. First off, how long had Monica had these bruises on her? Why she didn't ask about her aunt's condition? Also- -'_

"D-Dr. Kimishima!"

"Little Guy, don't yell like that, I had a nice train of thought going."

"But this is bad; I just got a report from Gabriel one of the members was in an explosion just outside the office."

"That must've been Lu! I'm heading over there! Send a message to team A and C to get over there too."

"Gotcha, I'll make my way over there too. The bomber just might be somewhere within the vicinity."

Everyone surely seemed to be taking their time, but those that had the quickest timing were Naomi and Little Guy. They got to the scene by a helicopter. Gabriel was conveniently attempting to reassure Lu right where the explosion happened, so it wasn't hard to find them. They were on the long walkway to the office entrance.

"Gabe, what happened?"

"I-I dunno! I just saw her walking out of the office to meet with Hank and Maria for some clues; I saw something falling and that's when the explosion happened."

"Is the explosive still in one piece?"

"I dunno. I'll go find it."

"Not so fast, what's Lu's condition?"

"Well, nothing's broken. But she's hardly breathing, and her heart beat's faint. She doesn't have much time left, where's Maria?"

"Calm down, Gabe. We'll do whatever we can to save your girlfriend."

"For the love of God, she's not my girlfriend! Sheesh!"

"Just go find that bomb, I'll try and treat Lu the best I can before the paramedics arrive."

"All right, don't let her die."

"I wouldn't allow it for the world."

There really wasn't much Naomi could do for her. I'm no doctor, but I have played this game, so I'll make the best assumptions I can. Er…lacerations, lacerations everywhere. Main focus was the legs and the abdomen. The rest are only afflicted with burns. There were several foreign objects located in her abdomen as well. They seemed like some type of steel.

"Hemostasis is going along smoothly. I'm surprised; I thought it would've been worse."

"Dr. Kimishima, it seems she's trying to say something."

"Lu, talk to me."

No word came out of her mouth, just struggles and gasps for air.

"She's undergoing cardiac arrest; I don't have enough strength in the arms to treat her. Little Guy, can you do it?"

"Frankly, I don't have enough strength or precision to treat her."

"Damnit! …Lu, you still have plenty ahead of you, don't die on me. It isn't time for your life's flame to flicker out… Find it in all your strength to stay in this world! Come on, just a little blow at the fire and it'll grow. It'll strengthen. Strengthen your flame! Don't die!"

…

"Th-the cardiac arrest seems to have stopped, but her heart beat is hardly visible anymore…"

"No! Lu, pull yourself together, it's not time to die! There's still hope!"

"N-Naomi…d-don't worry…about me…you have…a lot…you have a lot too…more than me maybe…so p-please…let me take a nap…just…for a bit…" Lu lightly whispered as consciousness was fading…fading…

"No, don't rest! You're going to live! Don't give in! Fight it!"

"I-I can't breathe…"

Just like that the sounds of a helicopter ringed through everyone's ears. Hank and Maria had pulled through…but the question is…are they too late?

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, I'm probably gonna die. Just proves how much of a great insert I make. I spark a romantic relationship and totally kill myself off. Yes. But, yeah, my sad excuse for suspense/a cliffhanger. See you guys in the next chapter.


	6. Effects

**A/N: **Boring chapter is kinda boring. But I finally finished the Diagnostics part of the game and I wanted to show off. :U …I'm serious, that's it. Oh, and there's more dialogue than actual seen actions in this chapter than the previous one...I think. Chapter five just had too many long paragraphs for me. Like I said before this is all improv, so I have no clue what I'm doing.

* * *

"Everyone outta the way!"

Maria yelled as she slid down the ladder of the helicopter, with a first aid kit in hand.

"Maria! Hurry, she doesn't have much time."

"Gotcha, no time for talk, we've gotta treat her ASAP."

"She underwent cardiac arrest just a second ago. I'm still recovering from the operation, so I didn't have enough strength to treat her for it myself."

"Damn! This isn't looking good… Now convulsions? At least she's still alive. I've just gotta hit 'er hard! Don't you dare die on me you little bitch, you're going to live!"

Maria pounded and pounded at Lu's chest, but she didn't seem to have much progress recovering from the second cardiac arrest.

"C'mon! C'mon! Live, damn it! Don't you dare give up on me!"

Gabriel appeared at the scene, in shock of how incredulously severe Lu's state was. It seemed unavoidable that she was going to die of blood loss any second. Blood was absolutely gushing out of her mouth, creating a pool around her head that'd soon lay dead on the grass. The diagnostician nearly found himself bawling. Death is always a depressing scene. But to witness it right in front of you, unable to do anything to help them… It just puts a cloud of total misery and guilt shroud around you forever. Especially, the most depressing part was the fact that this was a loved one. Even this scene, he couldn't determine himself that he had feelings for Lu. Gabriel didn't _seem _very emotional though, watching the blood flow waterfalls down the dermatologist's cheeks. He did cry, but his expression wasn't changed in the slightest. Yes, he was depressed to the point where tears would well up in his eyes, but not an overly exaggerated scene out of a bad movie or anything. Gabriel completely gave up on Lu having a chance to live the rest of her life. This was the end of the line for her, and he knew it.

Some completely foreign feeling crossed his heart. He had no idea what it was, but he did know it didn't match the time at all. It wasn't depression or anything of the sort. It was some strange form of happiness… Somehow he liked the new emotion…he just had no idea exactly what it was. What do you think it is? Maybe his brain just got scrambled in the moment and couldn't handle all the depression and threw something happy at himself. Or maybe it was…

Ahem, anyways, everyone lost hope for Lu to be saved, but Maria didn't give up anywhere near so easily.

"What the-? What the hell is this? How long has she been hiding this from us? Man, there's nothing I can do for it. I feel like all of this blood vomiting is gonna get in my way. Her clothes are already burned enough, I'll just rip the rest off and- Hey, Naomi, take a look at this."

"Why would you need me to-?"

Naomi and Maria gazed in amazement at the huge Rosalia bruise found on her lower stomach. It was black and stretched out like a spider web. This wasn't just a bombing to kill Lu; Lu was already destined to die at about this time for hiding Rosalia. The virus had just about taken over her entire body. This combined with the explosion was the most likely cause of this death.

"Lu? What the hell do you want? I'm kind of trying to save your life!"

"Th-this pain…It's unbearable…J-just l-let me die…I-I'm sure I…won't be missed…"

"Oh, hell no! I don't care if you have Rosalia! You're being sent over to Resurgam and cured as soon as possible!"

Suddenly a car pulled in. It was Tomoe and CR-S01.

"Damn good timing you guys were! Lu has Rosalia! She needs to be treated for this immediately, or else we're gonna lose her!"

"Her vitals don't seem good enough to be able to treat possible tumors she has. I'll treat the Rosalia, and the tumors will be treated later at Resurgam once she's stabilized."

CR-S01 immediately knew that he had to take over the operation.

"All right, let's bring her into the building carefully and hope for the best."

Naomi and Maria managed to carefully carry the body on the brink of death while the rest slowly followed.

"Yo, kid."

Gabriel called after CR-S01 as he walked towards the building holding the found bomb remains.

"Yes?"

"I know you've always saved a lot of patients, but it's _really _important you save this one."

"Oh, so you _were_ flirting with her?"

"It's not like that, it's just-"

"C'mon! Lu's going into cardiac arrest again!" Maria shouted.

"I better go. Don't worry, she'll live, I'll make sure of it."

* * *

"Let this disease pass from this world."

Yes, that's right. We all had our doubts, especially you, Aydan. Yeah, don't try to hide it, you were worried… Nah, I'm just messin' with ya. Anyways, all traces of Rosalia have been removed. All that was left was for the tumors to be removed at Resurgam. When Lu woke up, she was in a hospital room.

"…Whaddya know? I actually made it…"

After spacing out a bit while looking at the window, she was surprised to hear the door open and nearly jumped.

"Don't get so excited yet, I'm not Santa Claus."

"That's exactly what scares me."

After a little bit of a laugh, he got right down to business.

"Anyways, all of the Rosalia has been treated. All that's left is the possibility of tumors. Since we don't know where all these tumors are I'm afraid I'm gonna have to examine you. Oh, and you might need endoscopic surgery too."

"Why's that?"

"Well, don't you remember that one clue you really wanted to take a closer look at? The one about the poison?"

"That's right; there were traces of poison at the store explosion!"

"Yeah, so if they were part of the bombs we're gonna need to take them out, okay? Just one question."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why were you hiding your Rosalia this long? You're lucky to still be alive."

"I didn't know I had it."

"Wasn't that bruise on your stomach obvious enough?"

"It showed after I wiped out on my skateboard. I assumed that was just a cause of the accident, so I just let it be."

"Didn't you cough up _blood? _Don't you find that just a little strange?"

"I never coughed it up; it was just in my congestion. I thought that was normal too, so…there."

"What about your eyes? Your eyes never bled?"

Lu shook her head.

"Ugh, it seems like you're gonna be a tough one to diagnose. Come with me, let's get started."

Lu nodded and slowly followed behind Gabriel to the exam room.

"So, try to run me down and think of some kind of symptom you've been having."

"O-okay…"

Lu had thought and thought. She didn't wanna make Gabriel's job any harder, but she had to think of something. She honestly wasn't feeling any pain, only tired from just waking up. Then she began to cough for a while, and considered that as a symptom in a desperate struggle to help Gabriel get this over with.

"Honestly, I can't think of anything. Just a cough, but that has to be from the explosion."

"Well a symptom is a symptom. RONI, make a note."

"Understood, Doctor. New symptom observed: Coughing."

"Now, does your chest hurt any when you cough?"

"Nope."

Gabriel sighed and bent his head over. He knew it was either that Lu wasn't cooperating or she genuinely didn't have any symptoms besides a cough.

"Uh…is tree pollen abundant here this time of year?"

"No, why?"

"It's a little hard to breathe. I thought it was just allergies but-"

"RONI, you got that?"

"Of course, Doctor. New symptom observed: Dyspnea."

Gabriel tried to see any symptoms by just looking at her. She seemed to be wheezing a lot. Noted. Also, Lu had another cough attack. She always coughed into her arm, and this time there seemed to be tons of blood on the arm. Noted. Nonetheless, these sudden symptoms got Gabriel a little worried.

"Uh…Gabriel…"

"Yeah?"

"My chest hurts a lot now."

"If it's too much for you, you can just go back to your room and we can continue later."

"N-No, don't worry. I don't wanna make your job any harder on you than it needs to be."

"Okay, whatever you say. Now have you been feeling a fever or anything?"

"No, but I guess a temperature check wouldn't hurt."

"Better safe than sorry, eh?"

Lu nodded and let the thermometer go under her tongue, trying hard not to cough while it slowly checked her temperature. But it was too difficult and she coughed blood all over the thermometer and Gabe's hand.

"C'mon, or else we'll have to do this the other way~"

The proposal was outright teasing, but it definitely scared Lu enough to stop coughing. Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle.

"Just kiddin' with ya. It's only slightly over the average, but a fever is a fever. You don't have a boyfriend or anything do ya?"

"I haven't had sex, Gabriel. There's no chance I'm pregnant."

"Hey, how'd you know that?"

"I was a diagnostician once, I'm not that stupid."

"Sheesh, way to take something the wrong way… Anyways, RONI, make a note of the patient's temperature."

Gabriel couldn't help but feel that same foreign emotion from before spark when she admitted her virginity.

"Understood, Doctor. New symptom observed: Fever. Also, please stop flirting with the patient."

"I'm not flirting with Lu."

"The tone of your voice indicates you are lying, Doctor."

"Ugh, whatever. Just send a request for a CT scan and an X-ray."

"Understood, Doctor. The CT and X-ray scans are now available."

"Alright, now Lu let's get an earful. Lift up your shirt."

…

"C'mon, I've gotta listen to your lungs if you want me to diagnose you."

"I'm not gonna lift my clothes for a guy that has a crush on me. That would mean I actually _want _you to like me more."

"Ugh, fine I'll just check your scans."

The scans were relatively easy. Tumor shadows were more identifiable with the x-ray than the CT scan, but it was obvious she had some kind of lung tumor.

"Regarding the patient's cooperation with the auscultation, may I recommend seducing the patient?"

"What the-? Of course not! What good'll _that _do?"

"Humans seem to expose themselves more to those they are attracted to. The patient is not currently attracted to you, but seduction would boost your attraction."

"Pfft, Lu swallows too much pride for breakfast to fall for something like that."

"That is correct, Doctor. I detect an approximate sixty-nine percent success rate."

"Sixty-nine, huh. What an ironic number. Either way, it's way too risky."

"May I recommend a diagnostician of the same gender as the patient performing the auscultation?"

"Nope, I've gotta listen myself to make sure it's right. I'll try and convince her."

Gabriel would be lying to himself if he didn't think about how much he'd enjoy the idea of seducing her. What a fucking pervert. Anyways, he headed back over to the exam room where Lu was waiting patiently, gazing around the room. Actually, she was hardly gazing, but she was clapping her hands a lot as if trying to kill an invisible fly. Assuming the opened door was the diagnostician entering, she asked:

"Throw it right at me, Gabriel. What do I have?"

"Looks like you've got a carcinoid lung tumor. Right now it's benign, you got lucky. But since Rosalia progresses a lot, I'll have to diagnose you for anymore tumors so they can be all treated at once."

"Gotcha, keep going. If it helps, my head hurts."

"Alright, what're you doing anyways?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to kill this fly!"

"Erm…sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't see or hear any fly anywhere near you. Could be a hallucination."

"Looks like I need an MRI, then."

I can't help but think that it's normal for her to hallucinate. But I guess doctors have to take every precaution necessary.

"That's right, RONI, send a request for an MRI."

"Understood, Doctor. The MRI scan is now available."

"Alright, let's get onto that."

"Gaaabe~"

Lu's voice slurred romantically as she walked over to Gabriel and hugged him in embrace… What the hell's going on? She's even tapping his ass, she must've gone mad or something.

"Do you really have to check it right now? How about we have a little… _fun_ for a bit first?"

"Lu what the hell is wrong with you? This is serious!"

Gabriel would be telling the biggest lie in the state if he said he didn't like the attention, but he knew more than anyone that Lu had to be diagnosed. This change of attitude had to be a symptom. At first she was so hostile towards him for things like this, now she was practically asking for it.

"But Gabe, aren't you supposed to make your patients happy? It sure would make me happy if we made out. Please? Just this once?"

"There's no time right now, just shut up and let me check your scans."

"You say there's no time right now…but I'm sure there will be later! I'll be a good girl and wait here, okay?"

The diagnostician got sexually frustrated from this…Heheh, sexually frustrated…Sorry that was childish…Don't get me wrong, it did get him intensely frustrated. But he couldn't let himself give in to Lu's charming attitude. That little charade right there made it obvious to him that she probably had a brain tumor. If he did anything, there's no doubt it'd still be embedded in Lu's mind.

"Should I add the patient's behavior to the current symptoms at hand?"

"Yep, but it could be bipolar disorder. Let's take a look at the MRI. Also, you should jot down that Lu actually thought I said something about sex."

"Yes, Doctor. New symptom observed: Auditory hallucinations."

The MRI proved that the brain was swelling and caused massive pressure to her skull. It was hardly believable that this was only a minor headache. I for one always thought that Lu was an absolute pussy to pain. I'm surprised she can outstand this without crying.

"Okay, I think we've got about enough symptoms to make a diagnosis, how's our patient doing?"

"The patient's condition has worsened, Doctor. It seems she is experiencing a seizure."

"Urgh, dammit! I'm heading over there right away."

Lu's whole body was experiencing a spasm about the floor. Her arm tipped the chair she was previously sitting in over on her head and she fell unconscious… Due to the blunt trauma, I'm assuming.

"God damnit!"

"Doctor, the patient still has a pulse. She merely fell unconscious. You may proceed with the diagnosis once she is awakened."

"Ugh, fine. Maybe she'll snap out of that seductive attitude while she's at it."

"I agree, Doctor."

* * *

**A/N: **I seriously need to stop with this inability to create plot. Fluff are kinda lame. :I I'm trying to be too realistic, too. . Searching for symptoms just for my fanfiction. It's ridiculous. But making up my own diseases seems like too much trouble and like a rip-off of the whole freakin' system... I mean, game...series... o_o Short chapter is very short and boring. Leave me alone.


	7. Strength

**A/N: **Oh boy, trying to rush this before I head way out into Orlando. I hope I do well in this chapter.

* * *

"Oh God, what the hell just happened?"

Lu woke up from her slumber at about seven in the afternoon. Since summer was nearing, you could say that the day was still young. Gabriel came in quickly after Lu woke up.

"Hey, finally woke up."

"Can you clarify on what happened in the past couple of hours? My memory's really vivid on it."

Gabriel kind of put this to his advantage. Not exactly in a bad way, to say the least, but he had assumed Lu lost all memory of her attitude earlier.

"Oh, I was trying to diagnose you and you collapsed."

"What the fuck is there to diagnose? I thought you already said I had a lung tumor, you bastard!"

"You had Rosalia, remember? So I had to diagnose you for more tumors."

"Ffff… what're the results?"

"We're not quite sure yet, so far it looks like a brain tumor."

"You're just taking all this precious time so I can't work on my art, gotcha."

"What's wrong with you today? You passed out being a whore and now you're awake and acting like a bitch."

"What the hell do you mean I was passed out being a whore?"

Smooth, Gabe. Very smooth… He started to panic, realizing the mistake behind his words. There was no easy way to lie out of this one. The truth was really the most realistic conclusion he could come up with.

"Well, you were being really… Ahem, seductive."

"Is there a _problem_ with that?"

"Uh, _**yeah **_you never really act this way. This isn't like you, Lu."

"Dr. Cunningham, the patient appears to have signs of memory loss."

RONI couldn't help but do what she was manufactured to do and state the obvious.

"Yeah, yeah, RONI, mark it down. Now, Lu, is there any more symptoms you think you can tell me?"

Lu randomly began to cry after Gabriel asked her the question. Gah, the brain sure is a fucked up place to have a tumor…if it messes you up this badly.

"What's wrong? Does something hurt?"

"N-No…i-it's just… Do you know…where the tumor is…? Left…o-or right side…of my brain?"

"I haven't been able to confirm it yet, why?"

"W-well… I-if it's on my…r-right side… I can't work anymore…"

"Hey, don't say that. Tumor locations have nothing to do with your job, we can fix-"

"**You **_**idiot!**_ It has everything to do with it! The left side of the brain…holds all logic and education… The right side of the brain…is creativity… I'm an artist. If there's a tumor…in the right side of my brain… I won't be able to make another piece again! A-also…cosmetic surgery is my…p-primary field… That requires a lot of artistic ability…y-you know… If it's on the right side…my life… It'll all be ruined!"

"Lu, calm down, it won't completely destroy all of your creative abilities if there's a tumor located there. Even if that was the case, you'd be a genius. It'd be hard for you _not _to get a job."

"But I _hate _being smart! I'd rather be an idiot if that means I can still draw!"

Talk about a chick that's ridiculously passionate. These mood swings are kind of sickening.

"Ugh, RONI, remember to jot mood swings down too."

"Yes, Doctor. New symptom observed: Mood swings."

"Now, Lu, if you have any symptoms, can you tell them to me once you've calmed down?"

"O-of course, Doctor… Uhm…when I came over to this chair from the couch just now, it was really hard to walk. I kind of can't move my left arm at all. Hell, my whole left _side _has progressed to the point where it can't move. Ugh…see? I tried to raise my arm and leg and nothing came up. Also, I really have to pee…That's all I've got."

"Alright, nice to see you're cooperating."

"Well, why wouldn't I, Doctor?"

"It looks like we can narrow down our list of candidates enough to diagnose you now. I hope the kid can still operate on you while you're…remotely stable."

"And _what _is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Sheesh, forget I said anything! I'll come back when I have results, stay put."

"Hell, you're just lucky I can't move my left side! I can throw a pretty mean left hook!"

'_I seriously doubt that's even _half _a truth.' _Gabriel thought to himself as he went into his office.

"Okay, RONI. You've got all the patient's symptoms?"

"Yes, Doctor. I've narrowed down the diagnosis candidates."

Well the diagnosis explained everything behind her behavior. She has a brain tumor in her frontal lobe. There's no doubt, this tumor is caused by Rosalia. But…the tumor location is really odd. The lungs are very common, but her brain? This is very rare indeed.

"So will I be okay? Can I still draw and paint? Will my art studio remain open?"

Lu was getting emotional and concerned about her artwork again. She had a hunch that Gabe was done with the diagnosis.

"Yeah, it's in the frontal lobe. You should be fine, but have some trouble moving after surgery."

"Oh, well I'll just hope for the best it's not my arms that'll have the trouble moving. They're really important to do just about everything."

"Yeah. But I'll be rooting for ya. The kid's really good. I think you'll make a full recovery."

"…Thanks for the confidence, Doctor."

"Don't tell me you forgot my name. Ah, oh well. It's all over and it'll come back to you soon."

"Okay. I trust you, Doctor."

Lu hobbled on over and kissed Gabriel on the cheek. Oh hell yes, there is definitely a brain tumor. I don't care if Batman just got fused with Jesus and Donkey Kong. Lu would _never _kiss anyone on the cheek. I hope this change of attitude ends soon. It's kind of starting to freak me out. Anyways, Gabriel carried Lu bridal style into her room to avoid her having to strain her paralysis. He set her into the bed, and said the operation had to wait until morning.

"Wait, Doctor…"

"Yeah?"

"How much will the operation cost?"

"Neurosurgeries are pretty expensive. Also, the lung tumors are internal and external. So you'll need three surgeries. I'm guessing about forty thousand."

"…That's exactly what I was afraid of."

"You can't afford the operation?"

"Yes, I cancelled my insurance since it's been such a long time since I needed any medical treatment. How much would it cost with a military discount?"

"That takes off at least five thousand. Even without the insurance how can you _not _afford it? You're a doctor."

"Well, there's also living expenses like food and mortgage and my art supplies… I can only pay about twenty thousand."

Gabriel couldn't help but feel bad for her. Besides, what's left over isn't much.

"I'll pay the rest."

"What? Really?"

Lu jumped from the bed in excitement to hug Gabriel, but fell immediately on her face since she couldn't move her left half.

"Nice job breaking it, hero."

"Hey, I got excited. But…why are you paying off the rest of my bill?"

"It'll all come back to you after the operation."

Yeah, Gabriel must've given up on trying to spark Lu's memory back a long time ago. Let the operation do it. But I can't blame him, trying to make people with memory loss remember a thing is hard work. Gabriel carried Lu back into her bed.

"Now get some rest."

He closed the door and left Lu alone without a thing to do.

"He's a nice doctor."

Lu thought aloud to herself.

"I wonder why I'm so important to him… Well, I don't have a wedding ring or anything. Maybe I was his girlfriend…"

Sweet Lu was simply cute. In my opinion, just…adorable. But that was the last personality change she went through, and she was back to her normal self after the operation. No one was really disappointed, very happy and relieved. Yes.

"Good job, dude."

Lu congratulated when CR-S01 came to check up on her in her room.

"I remember everything."

"Well, that's good. You'll still have issues moving your left leg, but otherwise the surgery went well."

"…Th-thanks for saving me…"

"Don't mention it."

"I mean, really. It's a miracle to have slim to no side effects after a brain operation."

"I guess so. You might have to stay at the hospital for about a month to recover from your movement impediment."

"Why would I have to do that? I mean, it's just like learning to walk right. I can do that myself."

"You don't want to be hospitalized?"

"Of course not! I don't need any help getting on my own two feet. I'll be leaving in a couple hours."

"…Whatever you say."

CR-S01 left the room. He thought she was nuts. It doesn't matter how smart you are, you can't teach yourself how to do something you forgot to do. But he knew there was nothing he could do about it, so he sought to the other doctors to convince her. First, Maria.

"Lu won't cooperate with the rehabilitation."

"What? Why not?"

"She's stubborn. She thinks she can do it herself."

"No way! I'm going there right now to slap some sense into her!"

Maria ran off to Lu's room to enforce her to cooperate.

"You idiot! How can you think it's _easy _trying to get your leg working again?"

"Well, walking's just like riding a bike, 'ya know? You never for-"

"Bullshit! You can't do everything on your own!"

"I can't do everything, but I can figure this one out on my own."

"Urgh, well when you're lying on the floor begging for help, you'll regret it!"

Maria fiercely shut the door and not too far down the hall she met up with Gabriel.

"What's up with you?"

"Lu's crazy! She thinks she can rehabilitate for her leg on her own."

"Ugh, I'll take care of it."

Gabriel came in the door with much more of a relaxed feeling than the other doctors. He didn't have that same 'please gimme some money' kind of feel that Maria kind of sort of not really had. He smiled at Lu and didn't really seem to want to talk about the surgery. Nonetheless, Lu was still kind of suspicious of Gabriel being mad at her too.

"Gabriel, I'm sorry for being so…flirty. I wasn't controlling myself."

"Don't worry about it. It's a natural symptom."

"Anyways, I seriously owe you for paying for the rest of my operation. Man, if you weren't there…God, I'd hate to think of what'd happen. A-Anyways, I still remember you trying to flirt with me. I'm not an idiot. I like someone else, so you might as well give up."

"Really? You sure you're not just saying that to push me off?"

"Positive!"

"Then, who is it? I can keep a secret."

"Like you care."

"Fine, just cooperate with the rehabilitation then."

"What? Of course I won't cooperate with it!"

"Why are you so stubborn about it anyways? You can't teach yourself to get back on your own two feet! If you fall, there's no way you could get back up. Don't you live alone, too?"

"Honestly, I'm stubborn about it because I don't trust these people to help me out. I know it'd be a different nurse or doctor every time, so even if I get adjusted to one it's not like they'll stay around for long."

"I'll be back and see if I can work something out."

"'Kay."

Gabriel left the room to talk with the Chief about Lu's recovery when he ran into the new paramedic, Adam.

"Uh, you're that one…doctor…guy…Gabriel, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can you bring this to Ms. Delano's room? I bet you know where it is."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I'm too lazy. I'm trying to take advantage of today being relatively slow. Also, I don't know where she is."

"Room 503. Excuse me, but I've gotta go talk to Esha."

Adam simply shrugged and tried to find Lu's room. Adam has like a really bad sense of direction, so it took him forever to find her room. But luckily he got there just in time. What he needed to get over to Lu was her immunosuppressant drugs, since she recently had an operation. Lu can't swallow any pill ever invented so she has to take medicine in ice cream. It almost melted by the time Adam got there. Then he realized that Lu was an old friend.

"Luna!"

"Adam, hey. Who let you be a paramedic?"

"None of your business. The point is, I'm still alive."

"Still alive~ Still alive~"

"You can't sing. Here's your cocaine-infested ice cream."

"Cocaine?"

"Crushed up pills."

"Oh, durr."

"So, what happened? Oh, forget it I'll just check your chart… So, you're gonna stay here for a while to get your leg together?"

"No."

"What's wrong with it anyways?"

"The doctors said I'd have walking troubles with my left leg. But I don't understand it. I can move it in this bed here just fine."

"Lying down does not equal walking."

"Yeah, but… Shut up."

"Get up. I wanna see."

"'Kay."

It was relatively easy for Lu to get up and stand… Well, no shit Sherlock, the affected area is the left leg, not her back. I'm such a silly goose sometimes. Anyways, Lu tried walking towards the door. Right foot worked fine. Left leg wiggled a lot and forced her to fall.

"Good job!"

"Shut up."

Adam offered to help Lu up.

"It's alright, I can do it on my own."

Surprisingly, she did get up okay.

"It must not be as bad as it seems."

She told herself lightly while she habitually bit her nail.

"That's gros. Not even gross. Just gros."

"Shut up. Force of habit."

Gabriel came in at that time.

"Didn't know there was a party going on." He joked.

"You just missed out." Lu teased, "There were elephants, thousands of them."

"Yes." Adam added.

"Adam, we need you downtown." Maria called through Adam's walkie talkie.

"On my way. See ya, guys."

Then it was just Lu and Gabriel. Gabe took out a pair of crutches and tried to adjust them to Lu's height.

"What're you-"

"You'll need some help walking around, won't 'cha?"

"…Thanks. You look like you're up to somethin'. What's up?"

"Well, since you're so stubborn I thought I could help you get back on your feet."

"Cool story bro, but I think I can do it on my own."

"Fine, I'll give you a week. If you need any help, just call. You've got my number, right? You can't depend on those crutches forever."

"Whatever. I don't need any help… Thanks…for the…crutches, though…"

"No problem. See ya around… Oh, wait, I almost forgot."

Lu didn't look it, but she was surprised that Gabe bothered to add anything. Nothing against him, she just wanted to leave the hospital already.

"Joshua really wants to see you again. Three of us? Tomorrow?"

"Doing what?"

"I'm leaving that to you. Get creative; I'm sure you'll think of something."

"…Whatever."

Lu was a hard book to read by looking at her face. She has such a good poker face you could make a joke out of it if you wanted to. But she was…really confused…also, very angry. It's not that she hated Joshua. Lu usually hates kids, but has a specific age limit to how young they have to be to seriously get on your nerves. Joshua is (luckily) over that limit. She was confused because Joshua even _wanted _to see her _again_.

But Lu was also angry because she thought herself across as too motherly. This, to her, was the only explanation as to why Joshua would even bother to see her again. Lu isn't nice…at least that's what she wants to make others believe. She truly is a sweetheart, but she makes herself seem really cold. She feels kindness is a sign of vulnerability, which is the last thing she wants to be. Vulnerable. Weak. No. She wants to fight her own battles, or to be so menacing no one would pick a fight with her. This world was an endless black hold of torment. That was the way she looked at it since she was a little girl. Making herself ruthless prevented her from being sucked in. Only kind people are tormented by evil. It's sad, but true. Such a violent outlook on the world she has. I believe this is why.

"_Crybaby! Crybaby! Waa, waa waa~"_

_The girls teased at the playground, once again._

"_Leave her alone!"_

_Destiny loyally defended her friend. She wasn't so weak._

"_You don't think this is funny?"_

_The group of girls only hurt little Lu with words. But she was sensitive as a small child. She bawled in the playground. The only thing her friends, Kelsi and Destiny could do, was throw words back at them. Trying to make them go away, and end the torture. Lu was a nice little girl. She wouldn't hurt a fly. But the girls would. Lu was a fly to them. An insignificant little fly that was only tortured for their pleasure. This happened at least three times a week. You'd imagine Lu to get used to it by now. Of course not. She was too sensitive. Just a weak and fragile little girl._

_This was too persistent, and she was too easily hurt. The girls were getting bored. They started kicking her, throwing rocks at her. Destiny and Kelsi would've defended their friend as always, but they were too weak. It's not like they'd have the ability to bear it too. They told the recess monitor, but the group of girls weren't punished. They simply couldn't go out to recess for the rest of the quarter. This made Lu very angry. But there was nothing she could do about it. All she was was a weak little crybaby. That's what she was pressured to believe, and it stayed implanted there for the rest of her life._

'I'll never make myself seem so weak again. No one will ever hurt me like that again.' Lu thought to herself. "I'm not nice, I'm strong." She thought aloud in her loft. "Ruthless."

…

"Maybe I just need to take some fighting classes again, or something."

* * *

**A/N: ***HEAD DESK* GOD, THIS CHAPTER WAS SO HARD TO FINISH UP. I think we'll catch back up with Naomi in the next chapter…Or the chapter after the next chapter…I seriously need to practice my mystery writing skills…and plan ahead.

Also, these chapters seriously need to stop associating with my actual life. All hail realisticness! Like crashing school buses into the top floor of malls.

n.n;


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